


if walls could talk.

by kingdele



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M, dele is one of us normal folk, eric is a prince
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-10-10 10:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17424338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingdele/pseuds/kingdele
Summary: in which eric is a prince and meeting dele turns his world upside down.





	1. Chapter 1.

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my first non-academic piece of writing in years, please leave me your feedback but don't be a meanie.

It was 10am when Eric woke up. He rolled over in bed to check his phone, seeing a couple texts on the front screen from his sister Stephanie.

 

 **From Steffi:** Mum has called a family meeting today at noon.

 

 **From Steffi:** At the palace.

 

Family meetings that took place at the palace tended to mean one of two things: either a new public-royal engagement had been arranged or Eric had fucked up. Again. As far as he was aware, he hadn’t done anything against the “royal rules” for a while so assumed he was being called in to be told when he would next be engaging with the public at some charity event.

 

However, meetings at the palace always required putting on the best clothing you had. Eric was most definitely not in the mood for sitting around in a uncomfortable suit discussing something he was pretending to be interested in for the sake of appearances.

 

He still had 2 hours until he had to be at the palace, and his flat in Knightsbridge was only a short drive away so Eric decided to spending a few minutes scrolling through his secret, private social media accounts seeing what his friends were up to. It was completely against all the rules of being a member of the royal family to have a personal social media and if some of the content from his account ever got leaked his family would be ruined. However, Eric knew he could trust the friends who had access to this account as they had almost as much to lose as he did.

 

After mindlessly scrolling through clips of his friends nights out for a while, Eric decided he should probably get out of bed and started getting ready for his meeting. After carrying out his shower and skin care regime, he styles his floppy blond hair into a presentable side-parted style and puts on a white shirt, black tie accompanied by a light grey blazer and light grey trousers.

 

Once the time reached, 11:30am, Eric called his driver to come take him to the palace. Even though it was only a 10 minute drive approximately, Eric knew better than leaving royalty waiting.

 

15 minutes before the meeting was due to start, Eric had arrived at the palace and was making his way towards the drawing room they regularly held their family meetings in. When Eric entered the drawing room, the family meeting instantly seemed a lot more serious than he initially thought. His whole family had turned out for this one and had also already arrived before him, despite his own early arrival. His mother and father were seated on one of the sofa’s alongside his eldest brother with his eldest sister seated opposite them on the other sofa. His two sisters and other brother were seated around a small table behind where his parents were seated, making it clear the obvious space left next to his sister Francesca was for him. So, it was one of _them_ meetings.

 

“Right, what have I done this time?”

 

“Eric, don’t talk to your mother like that.”

 

He could only roll his eyes in response. Eric looked over to his mum, who very clearly had something she needed to say, and slightly raised his eyebrows as if to say _“well, what is it?”_

“Eric, dear, it’s just that you’re in your mid-twenties now and you’re still acting up and it’s beginning to tarnish the family’s reputation.”

 

Oh. Okay. Now he was annoyed.

 

“In what way _mother_ am I tarnishing the family’s reputation?”

 

“Well, for one you have refused to engage in any military service –“

 

“Oh I’m so sorry I don’t want to be shot in the face.”

 

“ - Which as you well and truly know, is expected of any heir to the throne. You’re very rarely seen by the public and don’t think your blatant refusal to settle down with anyone has gone unnoticed amongst our peers.”

 

“I haven’t found the right person yet mum. I can’t just bring anyone into this family, it’s not safe, you know that.”

 

“What about Maria? You’ve been close with her since school, she accompanies you to social events so it wouldn’t come as a shock to the public nor the media and her family are very well respected. She’d be the perfect girlfriend, and possibly even a wife, for you. The public would view you as teenage sweethearts, it would be perfect for both of your images. I don’t understand the problem Eric.”

 

Of course his mother wouldn’t understand. He’d never told anyone about his _preferences_. Not even Harry Kane who had been his best friend since they were both 13 and in their first year at Eton, nervous young boys away from their family for the first time. Generally, they told each other everything. But this, this was something Eric has never even been able to say out loud, not even to himself.

 

Then there was Maria. Eric had met Maria while they were both studying History of Art at Cambridge. They immediately realised how much they had in common, from their favourite foods to their favourite artistic styles. Throughout their university careers, they stayed close, along with Harry and his girlfriend Kate. Of course, to the media, they seemed like a budding couple and Eric saw it in his best interest to not correct them. After graduation, Eric had stayed in close contact with Maria, regularly attending social events with her, spurring more media frenzy about their relationship. There had been many articles written overtime about how they would ‘have the perfect children’ due to them both possessing blue eyes and blond hair. Again, it was in both of their best interests to never correct the media and just let it run its course.

 

Eric must have zoned out of the conversation because the next thing he hears is his sister Daisy calling him.

 

“Eric! Are you even listening to me? Eric? You‘re acting like this elusive wild child and it is impacting the whole family. You need to step up to your role.”

 

“Eric, your behaviour has started to cause problems with your gran and she has had to ask us to intervene. Do you know how embarrassing that is for us as parents?”

 

Oh yes. His nan. The literal Queen of the United Kingdom. Staging an intervention because he hadn’t settled down with a girl by the age of 25. Fantastic. He couldn’t take much more of this. He needed to leave this room right away.

 

“Right, whatever. ‘Prince Eric the family fuck up’ strikes again. Can I leave now?”

 

Waiting for no response, he walks out the room hearing his family calling his name to his retreating figure.

 

 **To Harry K:** We’re going out tonight. I need to escape.

 

 **From Harry K:** Sure. Where? Raffles?

 

 **To Harry K:** Of course.

 

 **From Harry K:** I’ll see you at 10 then.

 

 

*****

 

Dead on 10pm, Eric heard a knock at the door of his apartment. Knowing it would be Harry, he quickly took one last look at himself. He’d kept his hair the same as it had been that morning for his meeting but had changed into a pair of plain black fitted trousers along with a simple plain black t-shirt. When he opened the door, Harry’s shocked face greeted him.

 

“Dier, mate. What are you wearing? Your mums going to have a fit when she sees you go out dressed so casual”

 

Eric snorted. “Oh well, she can go fuck herself. All of them can. Fuck the lot of them.”

 

“Do I even want to know what you’ve done this time?”

 

“Why do you assume it’s me that’s done something wrong? I’m not a complete fuck up!”

 

“You know what, let’s forget it. Let’s go out, do a load of shots and forget about whatever has got you in this mood. Yeah?”

 

Eric nodded and headed out the door, grabbing a dark grey overcoat off the rack by the door as he left.

 

*****

 

When they arrived at Raffles, it was just after 10:30pm. The club was located in Chelsea therefore only a short distance from his flat. Raffles was his and Harry’s preferred nightclub due to it only accepting membership from the most elite members of society. Inside the was no worry of antics being leaked as everyone was in the same position, no one wanted their behaviour being leaked to the press. This was one of the very few places in the city where Eric knew it was safe for him to let go.

 

Due to his status, he and Harry were able to bypass the queue of people waiting outside the subtle door to the club, not giving people enough time to register who he was. They quickly slipped in through the front door, dropped their coats off in the cloakroom area and made their way through the main doors of the club. As expected, the music was blasting extremely loudly and Eric could feel his whole body vibrating as they made their way over to their usual booth in the VIP section.

 

“You cheered up yet mate?”

 

Eric glanced over at his friend and gave him a quick glare.

 

“Get a few shots in me and ask me again”

 

Harry smirked over at him. “Be right back.”

 

He exited the VIP area and made his way over to the bar. While he was gone, Eric leaned back in his booth chair and was observing the crowd in front of him. His and Harry’s booth had been selected by them purposely. From the main area in the club, it was difficult to see into this booth as it was semi-shaded and under the dark lights of the club, gave Eric the anonymity he craved on nights like these. In the crowd he could pick out a few faces of people he recognised, either from the tabloids or from seeing them in this club previously. Then, in the crowd, Eric spotted what could only be described as the most beautiful man he had ever seen in his life. He was wearing a salmon pink patterned shirt that no one in the world should be able to wear. But this man, this man was looking so wonderful in it. The soft pink complemented his darker complexion perfectly. He was dancing in the crowd with the most carefree look on his face. Eric could feel his heart beating faster and his breath getting caught in his throat. The strobe lighting of the club was dancing over this strangers face and Eric wanted nothing more than to go over there and kiss him until he had no breath left. He couldn’t stop staring at him. He seemed to be in his own little world, like there was no one else around him. At this point, the stranger opened his eyes and looked towards where Eric was sitting. Eric hoped that his darkened corner hid the fact his was completely staring at this random man in a club as he did not want to answer any questions about that. He quickly looked away from the stranger and saw Harry walking back over to him with an entire bottle of vodka.

 

“Hey. Couldn’t be arsed fighting through the crowd with shot glasses so just bought the whole bottle. That alright.”

 

“That is more than alright with me mate, pass it over here.”

 

Eric lined up all of the shot glasses that were previously placed in the centre of the table and started pouring out drinks for the pair of them.

 

“Woah. Man. Calm it yeah. Don’t go too overboard too quickly.”

 

“Piss off mate. You’re not my dad. You can’t tell me what to do.”

 

Out of spite for Harry, he angrily necked 3 shots of vodka while maintaining eye contact with his friend.

 

*****

 

2 hours and 15 drinks later, Eric was battered. Somewhere along the line he’d started drinking cocktails while still doing shots with Harry so it was safe to say he was a mess. He was currently slumped on Harry’s shoulder murmuring a load of nonsense and occasionally singing along to the music playing. Harry had drank nowhere near the amount Eric had and was in a much more sober condition.

 

“Ready to talk about your mood earlier on big man?” Harry was clearly taking advantage of Eric’s tragic state to try and get him to open up.

 

“It’s just.. this fucking family you know. I’m… I’m just completely sick of it.. I’m sick of them. Always telling me what to do and shit. I didn’t ask to be born into all this… all this BULLSHIT!”

 

“Right. So I’m going to assume you had a meeting this morning where they told you to do something and you didn’t like it?”

 

“CORRECT! They told me that I need to find someone to settle down with! Can you believe that? Apparently my lovely ol’ nan _the_ _Queen_ isn’t happy with my ‘behaviour’. The audacity!”

 

“Well Eric. I can sort of see their point of view. I mean look at you and look at me. Settling down with Kate has been one of the best thing I’ve ever done. It really matured me as a person whereas you’re currently sat in a club corner, pissed out your head, rambling about how much you hate your family. You’re acting like a teenager.”

 

“Oh Harry, not you as well? For fucks sake, I’m going for a piss. Why can’t anyone let me live my life?”

 

With that, Eric left the VIP area and set off across the floor to the toilets. He had to fight through the drunken crowd to get there and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t keeping an eye out for the beautiful stranger he’d seen hours before. Once he’d made it to the toilets, he still hadn’t seen the man and felt a little disheartened about the fact he might have gone home.

 

Eric was stood at the urinal when he heard the music of the club get louder and the creak of a door indicating someone was coming in. Normally, he wouldn’t look at anyone while he was having a piss as that makes it uncomfortable for all parties but when Eric saw a flash of salmon out the corner of his eye, he couldn’t help but spin his head round to where the stranger from earlier was stood by the sinks.

 

He was stood in front of the mirror, watching Eric in the reflection and smiled when he saw Eric turn to stare. _He was even more beautiful in proper lighting._ Eric felt himself instantly sober up. Now there was proper lighting rather than the colourful strobes of the club, Eric could see him properly.  He had a sleeve of tattoos littering his right arm and another small one on his left arm. The pink shirt looked so much better in this light. It complemented his darker skin tone beautifully. And the trousers, _oh the trousers,_ were tight black, fitted trousers that hugged every contour on his wonderful skinny legs. Finally, when Eric looked back up at the mirror and saw his smile, he felt his breath get caught and his heart rate speed up again. This man had such a bright white smile and he got the cutest little crinkles next to his eyes. Eric felt woozy, he had never felt this way about anyone before. None of his crushes, none of the boys from his fantasies when he was a teenager coming to terms with his sexuality but now, when he was pissed out of his skull in a club toilet, now he felt these feelings.

 

“I thought it was you staring at me earlier, couldn’t be sure under the lights though.”

 

Eric couldn’t form words, he couldn’t move. He was stuck staring at the guy in front of him. The man finally turned away from the sink and looked at Eric and held out his hand towards him.

 

“Hi. I’m Dele.” 


	2. Chapter 2.

Dele. _Dele._ He even had a beautiful name. Eric managed to snap himself out of his daze to reach out and grab Dele’s hand.

 

“I’m Eric.”

 

“Yeah I know who you are, _princess._ ” Dele replied with a smirk directed towards Eric.

 

“Right. Yeah. Of course.”

 

_Fuck sake Eric. Act like a normal human being._

“What is a Prince like you doing hiding in the toilets all alone on a Friday night?”

 

“I just.. you know.. had a little too much to drink I guess? Needed a breather.”

 

Eric felt extremely uncomfortable under the knowing gaze of Dele. He felt like the man was reading all his secrets just by looking at him. He couldn’t breathe. Dele was the first person to ever imply he knew Eric was interested in men, and it wasn’t like Eric could deny it at this point after being so obviously interested in Dele by the way he couldn’t stop staring at him. After a few more seconds of Eric dumbly staring at the man in front of him, Dele smiled and asked “So Eric, would you like to leave these dingy bogs and come have a dance with me?”

 

_To hell with what my family and what Harry thinks. I’m going to start living my life._

“I would love nothing more.”

 

Eric reached out to hold Dele’s hand again, this time leading him out of the toilets. When they re-entered the club, Eric’s little bubble burst. They were in a public space. He was a Prince. Everyone knew his face. But once he had turned back and looked at Dele’s beautiful smile, he thought ‘ _fuck it’._ He pulled himself and Dele to a corner of the club, on the opposite side to where he was previously sat with Harry so they were secluded and away from anyone Eric knew.

 

“Yes! This is such a TUNE!”

 

Dele looked in his element dancing away to the song that just came on. He looked so happy Eric couldn’t help join in. They were in their own little world, dancing along to the music. Eric was feeling brave and reached out to grab Dele by the waist to pull him closer. They weren’t paying attention to anyone surrounding them, it was just them two, dancing against each other, smiling like fools. They stayed dancing with each other for many more songs just enjoying themselves like men in their 20’s should be doing. None of this settling down business.

 

Eric could not think of a time when he had felt so carefree and so much like himself. He knew this was the person he was but at the same time he knew he couldn’t publicly be this person. All he wanted right now was to kiss the life out of Dele but he had to restrain himself because, even though it was all elite names in this club, he didn’t know any of them personally so couldn’t trust them. He doesn’t even know Dele. _Shit._

Leaning in closer to Dele, so now his whole body was pressed against him and his arms were fully snaked round his waist, he asked “So what is it you do?”

 

“Well, currently unemployed, just looking around for some modelling gigs.”

 

“Unemployed? How come you’re in here tonight? Not to be rude, but they only let the rich and the famous in.”

 

“One of my mates works as a barman here. Put me on the guest list for tonight. Wanted to see how the other half live. Heard stories about this place and what people get up to, wanted to see it for myself.”

 

“And how was the experience?”

 

Dele leaned his head towards Eric’s pressing their foreheads together and put his arms around his neck. Eric saw Dele’s eyes flutter shut.

 

“Amazing.” He whispered, lips ghosting Eric’s.

 

This was it. Eric was about to have his first kiss at the grand age of 25. It would no longer be just a fantasy in his head. He was about to kiss a guy for the first time. His heart was beating erratically and he briefly wondered if Dele could feel it. They were about to close the remaining gap when Eric felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. The phone brought him back to reality and he remembered where he was.

 

“Fuck. Shit.”

 

Dele looked startled, like he had also forgotten the situation. _Like he’d not even realised he was about to kiss Prince Eric._ Eric tried to ignore that thought because it gave him little butterflies in his belly, like a schoolgirl discovering her first crush. He looked down at his phone and saw it was Harry calling him. Eric had completely forgotten he’d even come out with Harry tonight, Dele had completely taken over his mind.

 

“Del. Shit, sorry. I’m going to have to run.”

 

Eric definitely didn’t miss the look of disappointment that ran over Dele’s face when he announced this.

 

“Alright then Prince Charming. I guess this is the end then? We go back to our normal lives?”  Dele sounded so little and disappointed when he said this. Eric knew he should agree with the man, but he just couldn’t. There was something about this man that he felt a connection with. He couldn’t just move on.

 

“Dele, I honestly don’t think I could, here, pass me your phone and I’ll put my number in. Just.. just text me at some point yeah?”

 

He knew it was a risk giving his number to a complete stranger. He didn’t know Dele, and as he implied earlier, he wasn’t a big name. He had nothing to lose. Eric had always been told that the most dangerous people are the ones who have nothing to lose but there was just _something_ about Dele that he couldn’t let go of.  It was a risk he was willing to take.

 

Once Dele had handed Eric his phone back, he pulled him into a one armed hug, the intimacy of the moment now ruined. As Eric went to pull away, he felt Dele’s lips graze his neck. He left out a puff of air and tried not to whine at the feeling.

 

“Dele, please. I genuinely have to go and you’re just making me want to stay.”

 

“I know, I know. Go on then, off you run. I’ll text you later ok?”

 

And with that, Eric started making his way back over to the other side of the club, where he had left Harry, probably close to 45 minutes ago now. He almost didn’t want to go back over to Harry, knowing he was significantly drunker when he left him and knows Harry is going to give him a lecture about something.

 

He was wrong. When he made it back through the crowd and into the booth, Harry greeted him with a hug, whispering apologies into his ear.

 

“Mate, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have got involved. You’re right, you should live your life the way you want. I’m so sorry.”

 

For a split second, Eric panicked that his friend had seen him with Dele, but when Harry pulled away from the embrace, he could smell the alcohol radiating off of him.

 

“It’s fine mate, it’s okay. Listen, you’re battered, shall we get going?”

 

“Yeah I think that would be good. Where did you end up anyway? You was gone for aaaaages”

 

“Oh you know, just about.”

 

“Any decent girls catch your eye?” Harry looked over at Eric with a knowing glint to his eye.

 

“Harry! You just said it’s not your place to get involved. Leave it yeah.”

 

Eric pulled his phone out and messaged his driver to say they were leaving via the back, as he didn’t want to risk any media attention right now by leaving through the front door and was sure Harry wouldn’t want old men taking photos of his drunken state. Once his driver confirmed he was at the back waiting, Eric started making his way out with Harry.

 

“Take us both back to mine please”

“Sure thing sir.”

 

On the short drive back to his flat, Eric had time to reflect on the night. He couldn’t believe how free he had felt. For the first time in his life he hadn’t felt like Prince Eric, he had felt like Eric Dier a 25 year old lad on a night out exploring himself. And there was Dele. Dele who had so much confidence and didn’t even seem phased that he was seconds from making out with a Prince. From the second they met, Eric felt like him and Dele had some form of connection and as though Dele had the capabilities to read him and work out all his little secrets. In the toilets he had presented himself with so much confidence, some may describe him as cocky. Eric was in awe. Dele was the kind of man he wanted to be ( _and to be with)._ He so boldly offered himself to Eric, unafraid of rejection. He was the type of guy who knew what he wanted and knew he was going to get it.

 

Eric was still heavily intoxicated, although much more sober than he had been earlier on in the night, and was desperate for his bed. His mind was working in overdrive and he couldn’t think straight all because of this guy he had met tonight.

 

When the car pulled up outside his apartment building, Eric thanked the driver and helped a still very drunk Harry out of the car. He wrapped one of Harry’s arms around his shoulder and helped Harry walk into his building and into the lift for his flat.

 

Harry, used to spending nights here with Eric, headed straight for the guest bedroom and Eric went straight to his own bed for a well needed sleep.

 

He would deal with his mess of a head in the morning, for now he needed to sleep for 10 hours.

 

*****

 

When Eric woke back up, the sun was streaming in through his window indicating it was a least 10 o’clock in the morning. His head was absolutely banging from the amount of alcohol he had consumed the night before. He winced at the sun and pulled his duvet over his head in an attempt to block out the bright rays. The memories of the day before came flooding back to him: the meeting, going out with Harry and meeting Dele. At the last memory, Eric rolls over in bed and reaches for his phone on the bedside table remembering he told Dele to text him. Upon looking at his phone, he realises the time is actually lunchtime and he had a lot of angry missed messages from his family. He quickly scrolled through them, getting the general vibe.

 

 **From Mum:** ERIC!!! How dare you go out without informing security! I know you’re angry at us right now but you can’t risk your own safety to spite us.

 

 **From Daisy:** Eric I know you’re not happy about what we discussed yesterday but this is what we mean by you acting up and ruining the family’s reputation. Mum is beside herself with worry about you.

 

There were a few from his other sisters reading similar messages just he didn’t even bother opening them, he got the general gist of what they were annoyed him about. He then scrolled to the bottom and saw a text from an unknown number.

 

 **From Unknown:** morning prince charming!!! its dele lol. i know you said to text you but don’t feel like you have to reply lmao i know you was real drunk last night x

 

The little kiss on the end of the text shouldn’t have made his heart flutter like it did. He saved the number under “Dele” and replied:

 

 **To Dele:** Hey, I know I was drunk last night but I meant everything I said. Of course I’d want to text you back. x

 

 **To Dele:** Also, are you free later today? x

 

After sending the texts, Eric got out of bed and started adjusting to the light. He went into his ensuite and splashed cold water over his face trying to make himself feel less shit. He’d be lying if he didn’t borderline run back to his bed when he heard the text sound ring throughout the room.

 

 **From Dele:** u text like such a royal lol

 

 **From Dele:** yes i am free later what do you have planned for me diet

 

 **From Dele:** dier*

 

Eric’s heart was beating much faster than usual and he couldn’t stop grinning like a madman. Reading over the texts again he thought to himself _I am way too deep in this already._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took me nearly 2 weeks to finish and was written in 4 different countries and on almost every single type of transport there is.

Later that afternoon, Dele was due to come over. Harry had yet to surface from his room and Eric was starting to get antsy. He needed to find and excuse to get Harry up and out before Dele was due to arrive. That was a conversation Eric was not prepared to have just yet. The best idea he had at the moment was ‘accidentally’ setting off the fire alarm but that would probably cause an alert somewhere and he’d have the fire brigade turning up on his front door.

 

“H? You alive in there” Eric gently knocked on the guest room door that Harry was sleeping in. Hearing a groan come from inside, Eric slowly opened the door. The room reeked of sweat and alcohol, he tried not to grimace.

 

“Hey how you feeling this morning?”

 

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck, how are you so chipper last time I remember seeing you, you was pissed out your head.”

 

“I, uh, I sobered up a lot before coming home, don’t get me wrong my head is banging but you my friend, you were gone. Couldn’t even stand up by yourself I had to carry you into the lift.”

 

“Oh my god.” Harry groaned in response. “Did anyone take pictures? Your family would go ballistic if you was seen with me like that.”

 

“No, we left through the back. Didn’t want to chance it.”

 

There was a pause in which neither Harry nor Eric knew what to say next.

 

“So, Eric. Uh, did you need something? Normally you leave me to rot.”

 

Eric had not thought this far ahead. He hadn’t yet made up an excuse to get Harry to leave. Now he was on the spot and needed to think fast.

 

“Oh I have so errands to run so I just, you know, thought I should let you know.” It came out almost sounding almost like a question. There was no way Harry was going to buy it.

 

“Right, ok mate. Sure don’t worry, I’ll just have a shower and I’ll be right out your way. I should probably be getting home to Kate anyway.”

 

  1. Panic over. Eric still had around 2 hours before Dele arrived to make this place look presentable and to mentally prepare himself for the afternoon. He wanted to make a good impression but didn’t want to try too hard. He had no idea what to do, this was the first time in his life he was romantically interested in someone and had a chance of furthering it. He was terrified. He wanted to ask Harry for advice but he couldn’t do that without raising questions. If this was a more normal situation or if Eric had bigger balls, he’d be able to ask Harry the questions like: what do I wear, how do I act etc. But no. He was alone.



 

The sound of the shower switching off in the guest room caught his attention. He decided to try and play along with his lie by making himself look busy in the kitchen, as if he was going out soon rather than obviously standing around waiting for Harry to get out his flat. Harry appeared shortly after wearing last night’s clothes and still looking a bit worse for wear.

 

“Right mate, I’ll be on my way then, cheers for looking after me last night, really appreciate that.”

 

“No bother mate, I’ll see you later then yeah?”

 

“See ya!”

 

And with that, Harry was gone. Now Eric was left alone to worry about his day with Dele. He decided on making himself a cup of tea (strong no sugar) and sitting out on his patio to try and calm his nerves.

 

*****

 

At 2pm Eric received a text from Dele.

 

**From Dele** : soz diet, running a bit late. just getting on the tube now, will be like 20 mins x

 

The new nickname he’d earned himself from Dele made him smile goofily at his phone. He’d never had a real nickname before, in his family nicknames are frowned upon, he’d always just been ‘Eric’. Being around Dele and even just talking to him made him feel like the normal guy he’d always wanted to be.

 

With only 20 minutes until he arrived, Eric had a quick walk around his flat making sure everything looked presentable. Everything was perfect but he just didn’t know what to do with himself, he was too nervous to just sit still. He let his mind wander to trying to work out the area Dele could possibly live in. He was only 20 minutes away by tube so it narrowed it down a bit. He didn’t know why he was thinking, it’s not like it mattered at all.

 

25 minutes after receiving the text, Dele still hadn’t arrived. Eric was stressed. Was Dele just playing him. Finding out the Prince is not-so-straight and having a laugh with it, ready to out him to the world. Eric could feel the anxiety building up in his chest. This was why he didn’t try and pull on nights out. This is what happens. Before Eric could have a full on meltdown, he heard his intercom buzz, indicating there was someone outside. Going over to the screen, he could see a grainy image of Dele waiting at his door. Breathing a sigh of relief, he let him in.

 

“Diet! Hey! How are you on this fine afternoon?”

 

“God you’re like an excited kid on their birthday. I’m good thanks, you?”

 

“I’m great now, so uh, you gonna let me in or leave me out on your doorstep?”

 

“Right yeah of course come right in.”

 

Dele walked into his flat and started looking around the building in amazement. He was wearing black chino trousers with a knitted burgundy. It was so simple yet he looked so stunning.

 

“Oh my god mate, this place is amazing! You’ve got STAIRS to your living room man that’s insane. Oh my god your entire ceiling is a skylight Eric this is amazing!”

 

Eric wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. He just watched Dele wander round his apartment with a fond look on his face. He resembled a child on Christmas, he’d never experienced someone so in awe of wealth before, he’s usedto these kind of things being expected. He re-joined Dele when he was in his living room, sitting on the sofa staring up at the sky through his ceiling.

 

“Eric this place is amazing, puts my pokey 2 bed I share with my brother to shame.”

 

“Yeah but at least you work for what you’ve got, this stuff just gets handed to me.”

 

“Aw princess, you feeling humble?”

 

“Del that’s not what humble means.”

 

“Well I don’t care diet, why did you have a funny look on your face when you opened the door.”

 

How does he tell him that he was panicking that Dele had stood him up. This isn’t even a date, can he even call it being stood up. Dele would probably think he is crazy, panicking about a guy he met once in a club, almost kissed and ran away from.

 

“You, uh, you were late so….”

 

“Did you think I was standing you up? Aw come here you big softie.”

 

Dele reached up and grabbed Eric, pulling him down to join him on the sofa. Dele wrapped his arm around Eric’s shoulders and dragged him into his side. Eric rested his head in the crook of Dele’s neck and gave a cheesy grin up to Dele. Dele turned his head slightly and softly spoke.

 

“If you really want to know why I was late, it was because I was stressing myself out over what to wear to come over here. And I also got a bit lost because I don’t know these ends too well.”

 

Well it was safe to say Eric’s heart completely melted.

 

*****

Hours later, they’d finished another game of FIFA. The score was now 5-3 games to Dele and he was so smug about it.  Eric couldn’t take any more humiliation.

 

“Right, I’ve had enough. I’m going to make food.” Dele just cackled in response.

 

“Aw Diet, can you not take me kicking your ass? Cute.” He slid across the sofa to be closer to Eric, and wrapped his arms around his waist while lying his head on his lap. He grinned up at Eric and just admired him. Eric raised a hand to play with Dele’s hair, running his hand between his cheekbone and the top of his head. They stayed like this for a few minutes until Eric’s stomach rumbled.

 

“See, told you Del, ‘m hungry. I’ll make some food, now what do you want?”

 

“Oh he cooks as well, what can’t you do princess?”

 

“Shut up,” Eric blushes slightly. He gets a little kick out of Dele calling him princess. “Come on, up you get, I’m starving here.” Dele looked up at him and _pouted_ and gave Eric some puppy eyes. He knew how to make people weak.

 

“Can we just have snacks and watch something on Netflix? I’m feeling cuddly.”

 

“Fine. Popcorn or crisps?”

 

“Sweet popcorn please.”

 

Eric lifted Dele’s head off his lap so he could go down to his kitchen to collect the popcorn. He felt like he should be concerned with how forward he and Dele were being with each other, considering who he was, but he couldn’t bring himself. This was the first time in his life he’s felt a proper connection with someone that he’s wanted to take further, and he was willing to take the risk with him. He just felt so comfortable in his presence, like he could finally be himself. It was freeing. There was such a risk of everything going to shit if he carried this on but he didn’t have it in him to end this. He didn’t even know Dele well, or at all, this could all be a big trick to get a story out of it. In his heart, he knew he should be careful. Ignoring his brain, he grabbed a bag of popcorn from the cupboard and quickly buttered a couple slices of bread for himself.

 

He left the kitchen and went back into the living room with a bowl of popcorn where Dele was now sitting upright on the sofa and was scrolling through his phone.

 

“So my brother said there’s this new show on Netflix that everyone’s raving about, something about a haunted house? You down for watching that?” There was absolutely no chance Eric was not about to admit to Dele he was terrified of anything slightly spooky.

 

“Yeah, sure. That sounds.. great.”

 

Eric reached over to the table in front of the sofa to grab the remote and switch over to the Netflix page. The preview pictures for the show were already making Eric’s blood run cold. He had no clue how he was going to sit through one or two hours of this without completely giving away his fear. Dele was sat next to him, still quite close, with the whole bowl of popcorn on his lap and was staring at the screen with a glint of excitement in his eye. He had to press play just for the look on Dele’s face.

 

Dele reached over to lightly stroke the back of Eric’s neck and gave him a cheeky grin.

 

“Netflix and chilling huh?”

 

Eric went bright red and had to look away.

 

*****

Around half an hour into the first episode, the first scene that really got Eric started. It was night time and the house was making noises. _Of course the house was making noises._ He tried to casually look away from the TV while also trying to not catch Dele’s attention. He tried to distract himself by putting his arm round Dele’s waist and pulling him into his side. This way he could turn his head into Dele’s hair and avoid watching the TV. Dele took this as an opportunity to snuggle _even closer_ to Eric and placed his head into the crook of Eric’s neck. It was the scene where the dad and the eldest son were hiding in the bedroom and the door handle was turning. Eric felt sick. He had to fully look away from the screen but even the sounds were making his heart race.

 

“Eric, I can feel your head turned away and I can literally see your heart beating through your chest. You ok?”

 

“I uh, I don’t really do horror. Never have done.” Dele sits up straight and looked to Eric with wide eyes.

 

“You _idiot!_ Why did you let me put this on if you knew you wouldn’t be able to watch?”

 

“You looked so excited to watch it so I just went along with it.” Dele reached to the table to grab the remote and paused the TV.

 

“Such an idiot you are.”

 

Dele put both his arms around Eric’s back and pulled Eric towards him. Dele laid down while pulling Eric on top of him. Eric rested his head on Dele’s chest while he run his hands soothingly down his back.  Dele’s knitted jumper was super soft and Eric loved rubbing his cheek softly on it. They stayed like this for a few minutes, just laying together in silence enjoying the comfort.

 

“Do you want to put something else on? Maybe a nice kids animation? Oh, so now Dele was teasing him. He sat up from his position and sat cross legged opposite where Dele was still laid back.

 

“Hey! You can’t be mean to me when I’m in a vulnerable state.”

 

“ _Vulnerable!_ Oh diet don’t make me laugh. It was a door handle turning!”

 

Eric would not stand for this _abuse_ in his own house. He played Dele at his own game and pouted at him trying to get his own way.

 

“No! No pouting it’s not allowed.”

 

“Why not? You pouted at me earlier trying to get your own way. Why can I huh?”

 

“Just you look too damn kissable pouting like that.”

 

Well. Eric was not expecting that reply. He decided to grow some balls.

 

“Do it then.” It came out way softer than he was intending it to.

 

“Yeah?” Dele’s reply was even softer. A quiet little whisper. He slowly sat up and rested his forehead against Eric’s. This was a very similar situation to the night before. He could feel Dele’s breath ghosting over his lips. Their noses were gently rubbing against each other.

 

Then, they heard the sound of a key going into the lock on the door. _Interrupted again._ This meant it was either a family member or Harry. Both were awful options. His family were angry at him and Harry thought he was out. Dele pulled back from the almost–kiss and quickly side eyed the door.

 

“Please tell me someone has a spare key and you’re not being robbed.”

 

Eric put his finger over his lips to tell Dele to keep quiet. When they heard the door open Eric looked to see who it was.

 

It was Harry.

 

The front door didn’t have a direct view into the living room which Eric was silently thankful for right now. He was walking towards the guest room he stayed in last night. They were both frozen in place, sitting opposite each other. Harry came back out the room on his phone. Eric was praying he stayed looking down at his phone. But no. He _had_ to look up right as he was at the right angle to see into the living room. To see Dele and Eric sat very close together on the sofa.

 

_Fuck._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> been super busy with uni work and travelling so sorry for the delay on this. uploads should be quicker from now on. this is also 80% dialogue because i lost all my brain cells while writing it.

“Eric? What are you doing here?”

 

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? You’re literally in my flat right now.”

 

“Yeah but you _literally_ kicked me out this morning because you allegedly had errands to run.”

 

“Something came up.” Eric said, nodding towards Dele who had been froze in position since the door opened.

 

“Clearly. So who’s your friend?” Harry seemed more confused than angry. Eric could see where he was coming from. Eric had rushed him out this morning under the guise that he had plans and then Harry comes back for whatever reason a couple hours later to see Eric chilling in his living room, with someone he’d never seen before.

 

“Hi, I’m Dele.” He gave a little wave and a small smile in Harry’s direction.

 

“Right. Hi. I’m Harry. I only came for my phone that I left earlier so I’ll be off now.” He seemed pissed off as he walked out the flat. The door shut loudly behind him, leaving the flat in silence. Eric turned away from the door to face Dele.

 

“I take it he doesn’t know then.”

 

“No one knows.”

 

“Not a single person? How have you coped this long keeping it private?”

 

“I don’t know. I haven’t I guess. It’s been very lonely and a lot of lying to a lot of people.

 

Dele lightly held Eric’s hand and smiled softly at him.

 

“Anyway, enough of soppy chats. It’s getting late and I need to eat. What would you like?”

 

“We can order take out if it’s easier, I really don’t mind.”

 

“It’s fine I like to cook and I especially like cooking for people.” Eric smiled at Dele then got up to walk to the kitchen. He already had a plan of what he was going to make, to try and impress Dele but not overdo it. He was in the cupboards getting out the pans and ingredients needed when Dele walks in and hoists himself onto the counter.

 

“Making yourself at home I see?” Dele just smirked back at him and manoeuvred himself so that even more of his body was propped on the side.

 

“For someone who apparently loves to cook, your kitchen’s tiny in comparison to the rest of the flat.”

 

“Hey, watch yourself,” Eric said, pointing a spatula towards Dele’s face. “You can’t be mean to me, I could have you sent to the tower and beheaded.”

 

“Oh I’m sure you could big man. What’ya cooking for me anyway princess.”

 

“ _Frango com molho de tomate._ ” Dele just looked back at him completely baffled. “It’s chicken in a tomato sauce.”

 

“And what was that funny voice you said it in? What even was that? French?”

 

Eric had to laugh at Dele’s complete confusion.  “I spent a couple years in Portugal not so long ago and learned a lot of cooking while I was there.”

 

This piece of information lead to a conversation about their upbringings, Eric sharing a lot more than Dele. Dele learned about Eric’s family – the _royal_ family -, about his time at university and in Portugal. All Eric learned was that Dele was from Milton Keynes. He didn’t want to push in case he didn’t want to share and he ruined the day they were having. Most of Eric’s life was public knowledge anyway.

 

The sun had started to set once they sat down casting a beautiful orange light across the dining room. Eric was slightly nervous, for a reason he wasn’t quite sure of, for Dele to take his first bite. It was a simple dish that Eric had made a million times and knew he’d cooked perfectly this evening. Still, he was watching in anticipation. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders when Dele smiled and groaned after taking his first mouthful.

 

“So, you said you hadn’t told anyone you’re gay?”

 

 _Gay._ This is the first time anyone had ever used that word in regards to Eric. He felt a brief flicker of panic run through his body before he reminded himself it was hardly a secret from Dele what his preference was. He was 25 years of age and he hadn’t ever said it out loud.

 

“Yeah. I have never told anyone.”

 

“Other than me?” Dele smirked cheekily at Eric’s awkward expression and he just twitched his eyebrow in response. “What makes me so special?”

 

Well. Eric didn’t have a single clue how to respond to that. Was he to be honest or fabricate a whole story. He wasn’t used to being completely honest and open with people, it was causing him to have feelings of anxiety in his chest and stomach. But he’d had enough of the lies, it was getting too tiring not being honest with anyone. Could he trust Dele? He didn’t even know the man properly. He didn’t even know his full name and here he was in his apartment, cooking for him, planning to tell him all his secrets for them to potentially end up on the front page of every single newspaper tomorrow morning. _Maybe if that happened his parents would stop trying to get him a wife._ Was this a risk Eric was willing to take? No one had ever made him feel like Dele had the night before and nothing had even happened, they just stood extremely close and almost kissed. _Fuck it._

“Last night, when I saw you in the crowd, you just made me feel a way that no one has ever made me feel before. My breath was literally taken away. And then when you came into the bathroom, my drunk brain told me to start living my life.” Eric looked back up at Dele and he had a slight blush on his cheeks. Eric knew his face must be beetroot by this point.

 

“So there’s never been anyone at all?”

 

“Obviously I’ve had crushes and stuff, but nothing has ever happened with anyone.”

 

“But didn’t you go to boarding school? Isn’t that like what goes on there?”

 

“DELE!” Eric cackled at his stereotype of boarding school.

 

“What!?” Dele shouted back incredulously, as if he thought he was making a very valid claim.

 

“No, not even at boarding school. I could never risk it.”

 

“Why now?”

 

Eric thought back to his conversation with his parents yesterday, the conversation that started this. Eric really had a busy 24 hours. He didn’t really want to let on that his life was so pathetic his parents were trying to marry him off to make him look like less of a failure.

 

“Just felt like it, I don’t know.” He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable now, sharing far too much for his own liking. “Can we talk about something else please?”

 

“Sure thing, how’s about we go wash these dishes ey?”

 

Together they collected the plates from the table and piled them in the sink along with all the cooking dishes and utensils. Dele rolled his sleeves up, ready to get stuck in when Eric noticed a tattoo on his arm and huffed out a laugh.

 

“Dele, why have you got Bamm-Bamm tattooed on your arm?”

 

“It’s sort of a childhood nickname.”

 

“How?”

 

“My first name is Bamidele. But call me that and I’ll break your knee caps.” Dele looked at him with a pointed stare, making it known that he was deadly serious about the knee cap breaking. Eric was about to ask him more about the name situation when Dele received a text and the moment was over.

 

“I should probably get going. My brother’s due home from work soon and I don’t want him asking a million questions about where I am.”

 

“Oh, okay, sure. Does your brother not know you’re gay?”

 

“He does know. Everyone that’s important in my life knows. I just haven’t told him about today because I assumed you wouldn’t appreciate me gossiping about you and if he starts asking questions I might slip up.”

 

“That’s… actually really thoughtful. Thank you.” The fact that Dele had made sure to keep this quiet so far made Eric feel less uneasy about him going and spreading his private life all over the media. He felt safer in his decision. “Where have you got to travel back to?”

 

“Only to Brixton, just down the road.”

 

“Brixton? Isn’t that a really unsafe area? Especially when the sun is set?” Dele laughed out loud at Eric’s question. Eric didn’t understand what was funny.

 

“Unsafe? Nah mate, maybe to you but for the rest of us it’s just like anywhere else in London. Keep yourself to yourself and watch where you walk.”

 

“Oh.” Eric felt a little silly for even asking the question in the first place. In his defence, he had lived a very sheltered life. They walked to the front door together and Eric did not want this day to end. They’d had such a nice calm day together just talking and watching TV which Eric had never done before. Sure, he’d had Harry around to play games before, but this was _different._  

 

“Do you want to go out some time? Like out for a meal or drinks?” Why did Eric feel like a blushing schoolgirl? Dele smiled widely at Eric.

 

“I’d love to.”

 

Eric pulled Dele in for a hug and pressed a kiss to the arch of his cheek. He felt Dele’s arms tighten around his waist.

 

“I’ll see you in a bit, yeah?”

 

“Goodbye.”

 

And with that, Dele left his flat and Eric felt he was in way too deep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so so sorry i haven't updated this in so long. been so caught up with uni work finishing assignments and writing my research proposal i haven't had time to write anything else, but term is over now and i already have the next chapter drafted.

It had been 2 days since Dele had come round to his flat, and 3 since he last spoke to his family. They’d tried to get into contact, but he was actively avoiding their calls and texts. He had nothing to say to them, they’d made it clear what they wanted from him and he couldn’t pull through on it. He was coping lying to them up until this point, but if he had to carry on the lie for the rest of his life, there was no chance of him staying sane. His original plan was to just stay single for his entire life, but now there was this _thing_ with Dele, he wasn’t sure what to do. Either way, he was going to be a scape goat of the Royal Family, whether he stay single forever and doesn’t have kids to carry on the line to the throne or if he’s the first British Royal to come out as gay. That was another advancement in his life the past few days. He was now able to comfortably label himself.

 

Eric wasn’t stupid. He knew what coming out would do to the family and the country as a whole. He knew that ties with many of the Commonwealth countries would be broken as in 33 of these countries his family valued so high, he could be imprisoned or given the death penalty for being who he is. He was aware of the situation the country would be in if he came out to the public. Yet, here he was considering it for the sake of one man.

 

Since Dele left, they’d been texting non-stop, bantering each other over stupid little things and getting to know each other better. They’d also planned a little date-night of sorts. Tonight they’d planned to go out for drinks in a bar Eric knew was safe for them. He was also planning on informing someone from his security team and bringing someone along. But, this meant either explaining the situation to an outside person or letting them figure it out themselves. _Was he ready for that?_ Eric knew how dangerous it was for him to go out without informing anyone from his security team and he did regret the risk he took the other night.

 

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud insistent banging on his front door. He could hazard a guess at who it was judging by the fact they obviously knew the code to the front door of the building. His mood was instantly ruined when he realised it was one of his family members at his door. He stomped over to the front door and ripped it open.

 

“OH! So you are alive then?” It was his sister Daisy.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“Don’t you dare speak to me like that. You’ve been ignoring us all the past couple days and acting like a stroppy child. What’s going on?”

 

“Oh I don’t know Daisy? Maybe it was the fact my whole family cornered me and tried to force me into a marriage!”

 

“Force? Eric stop acting like a child and twisting things. You know you have a duty to this country.”

 

“I don’t see how me getting married to someone I don’t even care about serves as a duty to this country.”

 

“Since when didn’t you care about Maria? You’ve known each other years and you’ve got so much in common. It won’t even surprise the public. We don’t understand the problem.” Eric was infuriated. How dare she barge in here and start demanding things from him.

 

“You wouldn’t understand! I don’t want to live the rest of my life in a lie!” The truth was too close to coming out. Eric was getting over emotional and he always ended up spilling the truth when he was angry. His sister looked thoroughly perplexed at his outrage and Eric knew the questions were coming. “Please, get out of my house before I make you.”

 

“You’re way out of line you know Eric. Absolutely no right treating me like this because you’re having a tantrum. Come find me when you’ve grown up.” Seeing his sister so upset at his actions made him want to tell the truth, but he knew he wasn’t ready for his family to know. He’d rather them think he was having some sort of childish breakdown than know the truth. He needed to fully get his head around the situation with Dele before telling his relatives. Somehow, he felt like if he was in a relationship, people would be more supportive and understanding. Would show them it wasn’t a phase or any of those other weird explanations homophobes came out with when a family member comes out. Eric knew he should talk to Harry about everything that’s going on, but he honestly didn’t know where to start. Would he be annoyed that Eric has been untruthful for their entire friendship? Would he have a problem with it? He didn’t think that Harry was a homophobe but you never know how someone will react when it’s a person so close to them.

 

But first, he had to deal with security for tonight. Eric wasn’t sure if he was physically able to come out to a member of the Palace security team, seeing as he didn’t know them all too well. He figured the easiest options was to out himself in a sense, and just leave the guy to come to his own conclusions. Yes, that seemed the best option. He sent a message to the team saying he needed someone to drive and accompany him and a friend. No names, no addresses, nothing that cause alarm before it’s too late. He knows the security team are meant to run discreet background checks on anyone any member of the family associates with for their own safety, but Eric didn’t want that. He wanted to get to know Dele at his own pace, without the interference of staff or family members. He was just going to have to beg whoever is escorting him to stay quiet.

 

*****

 

At 7pm Eric was ready to leave. He was dressed in a simple black shirt, with black dress trousers and shoes. He was no expert on fashion and he had a specific code that he had to dress according to but he knew that you couldn’t go wrong with black. Right? His driver and security for the night were waiting outside his apartment for him, before they’d go to Dele’s flat to pick him up. Originally, Dele had been insistent on meeting Eric at the bar they were going to, not wanting Eric to see where he lived but eventually he caved and sent Eric his address. Giving himself a final once over and grabbing a long black coat from the rack, he headed outside and into the waiting car.

 

“Good evening sir. Are we going to Harry’s house to pick him up?”

 

“No, uh, not quiet. I’m going out with another friend tonight, I have the address here on my phone.”

 

“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, which friend? This address is not familiar and I know the area doesn’t exactly have a good reputation.”

 

“He’s a new friend, please, can we just go?”

 

“Sir, you know the rules. Everyone has to be subjected to a full background check before you engage in close contact with them.”

 

 _“It’s a bit late for that_ ,” Eric muttered under his breath. “Please, can we just this once let it slide? It’s really important for me.” Eric was beginning to sound desperate but he hoped that would work in convincing this man to drive.

 

“I’ll make a compromise. We’ll go there now, no questions asked but, after tonight we’ll do our checks. Ok?”

 

It was not ok. Not with Eric. But, he knew this was the only way he was going to get driven to Dele’s flat tonight. It would have to do.

 

“Fine. Can we go now?”

 

The driver entered the address into his GPS system and set off. From the back seat, Eric could see that it was going to be roughly a 20 minute drive with the current traffic conditions. He texted Dele to say he was on his way and then decided to be really nosey. When his driver had said the area wasn’t known for its good reputation, Eric was intrigued. Of course he wasn’t naïve enough to believe all of London was like the area he lived in, but the fact his driver was almost warning him away was strange. He popped the address into Google Maps to see what the fuss was about. Despite the area being called an estate, it was nothing like he’d heard about from his peers throughout school. Sure, it wasn’t high class but it wasn’t anything terrifying like he was expecting.

 

Soon enough, they pulled up outside the building Dele lived in.. Eric was about to get out the car and be a true gentlemen by going to Dele’s flat and walking him to the car. As Eric was just about to open the door, his security stopped him.

 

“Sir, wait. I don’t think it’s safe. It would be better for everyone if you messaged your friend and informed him we were here.”

 

Eric trusted the instincts of his security guard, and obliged, texting Dele that he had just pulled up. While waiting for Dele to arrive. He saw a young man walk out of the building entrance, walk up to another young guy and engage in a weird handshake before they both parted, and they went their separate ways. _Weird_. He heard his driver and security guard exhale quiet and loud from their noses, indicating a small laugh.

 

“What?”

 

“Did you just see that?”

 

“What the handshake thing? Yeah that was really strange.”

 

“Ah. I take it that’s the first drug deal you’ve ever witnessed.”

 

“ _Excuse me!”_ Now, Eric knew people did drugs. And he knew people obviously got their supplies from dealers. But, in his head he’d always imagined them being in a secret buildings or in seedy alleyways, not on a public road where everyone could see. He was genuinely shocked. While sitting there in his thoughts, Dele had appeared from the building. Under the streetlights, he looked beautiful. He was wearing some navy trousers, a white collarless button up with a long knitted grey/brown coat over the top. _Eric had never been more attracted to a man than he was in that instance._ Dele spotted the blacked out car parked up and started making his way over. When he got in the car, his face lit up in a cheeky grin, Eric knew a sarcastic comment was coming his way. He’d only known Dele for 3 days, and had only spent a day with him but he knew what _that_ look meant.

 

“Dressed all in black Diet? Do you not have some top expert guiding you how to dress?”

 

“Oi! I thought I looked nice!”

 

“I’m only teasing you mate, you look a delight.”

 

Eric hated to admit it, but he felt his face warm up in a blush when Dele said that.

 

“Anyway, have dumb dress code rules I have to abide by so..”

 

“Oh really? Please tell me more about what you hate about being a Prince.”

 

“Well for one I hate the fact I can’t even go out with a friend without being spoken to like a child about background checks.” Eric had raised his voiced at this point and was speaking in a very passive aggressive way towards his security. He didn’t want to come across as a dick in front of Dele on their first date, so he quickly looked across at Dele, ready to apologise for his behaviour. He saw that Dele had a slightly panicked look on his face that Eric put down to how quickly Eric had become angry. Eric softened his voice and said “Sorry, can we just talk later, when we don’t have prying ears.” He was trying to keep quiet so his team didn’t catch on to the complete situation early on. He was aware that as the night went on, they would realise what was actually happening between the two men but he preferred it to be when they were in a bar where they couldn’t be confronted about it, rather than in a very small car.

 

  
Dele looked over at Eric with a small smile and nodded. “Yeah, of course, don’t worry.” Eric smiled softly at him and rested his hand on Dele’s thigh, only for Dele to reach down and lace his fingers with Eric’s. He felt like a school girl with the way is stomach fluttered.


	6. Chapter 6

When they arrived at the bar, Dele looked in awe. Eric had chosen a bar with a panoramic view of the city. It was one of his favourite places to come for a quiet night. It wasn’t a big bar as such, and all the seats were armchair-style giving the venue a cosy vibe. Eric thought it was impressive but discreet. They chose a table next to the window and sat down with their drinks, a gin and tonic for Eric and a vodka, lime and soda for Dele. The security was sat a few tables over, too far away to be able to pry on conversation but not too far to intervene should a situation arise. They sat down and stared at each other for a few seconds before they both burst into laughter.

 

“Sorry, I’ve never really done the dating thing before. I don’t really know how these things go.” Eric shyly admitted. Dele knew this was all new territory and he was completely inexperienced, but saying it out loud was still embarrassing.

 

“I don’t do this often either, if I’m honest I’m really nervous.”

 

“Really? You were so confident the other day.”

 

“That was different. This is more official than just chilling at your flat. We didn’t have a balding man staring at us.” Eric instinctively looked over his shoulder at the guy, who had his eyes trained directly on the pair. It was extremely uncomfortable.

 

“Sorry, I had to bring someone. My family gave me shit for going out the other night without anyone.”

 

“Why’s he glaring at me so much?” Dele started fiddling with his hands, like a scared kid in the headmasters office.

 

“He thought I was going out with Harry, and then when I told him I wasn’t, I got a massive lecture about how I’m not allowed to go near anyone who hasn’t been subjected to an extensive background check. I didn’t tell him we’d already spent plenty of time together.”

 

“Why- why didn’t you tell him who you were going out with?”

 

“I didn’t want to hear every detail of your life from some man I don’t even know the name of. I want to get to know you at our own pace.”

 

“Aw, you’re so soppy.” Dele reached forward and grabbed one of Eric’s hands an gently rubbed his thumb along the back of it. He must’ve felt Eric tense up slightly because he quickly tried to pull his hand back.

“Sorry.” Dele muttered quietly. “I forget sometimes, you know?”

 

“No, no, no. Dele its fine. Its just.. new. I’m just not used to people grabbing my hand, that’s all.” To try and comfort him, Eric tightened his hold on Dele’s hand and gently swiped his thumb over the skin of the other man’s hand.

 

“Mate, Mr Baldy over there looks like his eyes are about to bulge out of his head.”

 

“Mr Baldy?”

 

“Yeah, the security guy.” At this point, Eric couldn’t help but laugh. He wanted to look around and see the look on the guy’s face but thought it would be too obvious that they were talking about him. He just had to leave it to his imagination. “What you laughing at! I don’t know his name so I had to give him one.”

 

“Oh my god you’re so dumb.” Eric said while still laughing “It’s a good job you’re pretty.”

 

“Yeah? You think I’m pretty Princess?” Dele’s stupid grin was back on his face. Eric blushed and looked down.

 

“Shut up.” He grumbled while he felt his face heat up.

 

“Did you tell Mr Baldy who I was or why you was meeting me?”

 

“No. He doesn’t know your name or anything or why we’re out tonight. I figured he’d figure it out for himself soon enough and that seemed easier than coming out to someone I barely know. He does have your address though so I can’t promise he won’t find out everything about you.”

 

“Oh.” Dele had the panicked look on his face again.

 

“Are you okay? You look terrified when I mentioned background checks earlier? Not a serial killer are you?” Eric tried to lighten his question with a joke. He’d said he wanted to get to know Dele at his own pace but the terrified looks on Dele’s face did have  him worried. Did he really have something that dark in his past that he was scared of Eric finding out?

 

“No, no. Nothing like that. Just some stuff that’s not really, accepted I guess, amongst your people. Some stuff that would probably make you not want to take this further.” Eric had to admit hearing Dele hint at the fact he wanted this to go further make his stomach flutter and his heart rate pick up.

 

“Del, you know if this did go further you wouldn’t be able to keep whatever the secret is a secret. I’m not expecting for you to open up to me now, I know we haven’t got to that stage yet and I definitely don’t want to hear it from my security team, okay? If they stick to regulation, which they probably will, they’ll go digging but I don’t have to listen to anything. I want to do this properly.”

 

“You want to take this further as well?”

 

“Of course I do, you’re the first guy to ever make me feel this way, that’s got to be something worth pursuing.”

 

“You’ve mentioned a lot how I’m the first guy you’ve ever had a thing with, can you promise me this isn’t an experiment?” Dele sounded vulnerable now, almost weak and scared. Eric made the assumption that he’d been hurt and let down in the past.

 

“I can promise you. If I wanted to experiment I’d hire someone for the night like everyone else. This is real.”

 

That seemed to be enough to make Dele smile and believe him. The mood had sort of taken a turn and had got a bit deep which is not how Eric saw the night going. He was in for a quiet night, relaxing with a few drinks having casual conversation. He was worried he’d scared Dele off and he wasn’t as in this as Eric was, but he just had to hope he took Eric’s word about everything.

 

*****

 

As the night went on, the pair became more relaxed and more tipsy. The problems of earlier on had been forgotten and now they were laughing over stupid jokes that were probably not even funny to a sober ear. Eric was learning quite quickly that Dele was a touchy drunk. Dele kept hitting his leg against Eric’s and every time he laughed, he leant forward into Eric’s space. The bar had emptied out as the night went on, and it must have now been closer to 1am. Eric was thinking that they should probably head off soon, when the security guy came over to where they were sat.

 

“Come on guys, think it’s time to go now.”

 

When the pair stood up, Dele stumbled and Eric had to steady him with a hand around his waist. Dele instantly leaned into the touch and settled his head on Eric’s shoulder. They slowly started stumbling towards the exit, following the lead of the security guard. ‘ _I really should find out his name.’_ Eric thought to himself. He turned round to look at the two of them and gave them a pointed look, one that was probably mean to say ‘Be careful’ as there were still a couple people dotted around the bar. In fairness, they were probably half-cut themselves and wouldn’t remember if they saw Prince Eric draped around some random guy but it wasn’t a risk the Palace staff were going to take. Still, didn’t stop Eric from clinging on to Dele’s waist.

 

They went out a back entrance and quickly got straight into the waiting car. Eric was quietly relieved that no one had let slip that he was there, he didn’t really want to deal with paparazzi right now. Eric let his arm slip from Dele’s waist while they fell into the car in a fit of giggles. It seemed they were both more drunk than they thought. While they were laughing, Dele rolled closer to Eric and leant his head on Eric’s shoulder and Eric wrapped his arm around his shoulders. The driver gave them a look through the rear-view mirror and sighed, probably sick of having to deal with 2 6ft children.

 

“Seatbelts, gentlemen.”

 

Both of them struggled in the states but eventually got themselves buckled in. They resumed their positions from earlier and the driver set off.

 

“Sir, are you both going back to your apartment or am I taking him home?”

 

Eric panicked. He hadn’t thought about this. He didn’t want to say Dele was coming back to his as they hadn’t discussed this, and he didn’t want him to feel pressured into anything. But then he didn’t want to tell Dele he was going home and make him feel rejected or unwanted. Dele must have sensed Eric’s discomfort or perhaps heard his heart rate pick up because he told the driver to take him home without even lifting his head from where it was settled in the crease of Eric’s neck.

 

During the drive, the alcohol hit both of them and they both felt extremely tired. Dele voiced this when he snuggled closer into Eric’s side and mumbled ‘Mmmmm I’m so tired.’ Eric responded by rubbing his thumb gently across his shoulder and saying “I’m so happy.” He knew the driver would be keeping an eye on them through the mirror and that the security – who he still didn’t have a name for - would be watching them as well but he didn’t care.

 

When they arrived back at Dele’s estate, he was fast asleep and Eric was halfway there. He tried to gently wake him up by shaking him and softly saying his name. When he didn’t wake up, Eric decided to try a different tactic – tickling him. He quickly jabbed his hands into Dele’s sides and watched how his eyes instantly sprung open in horror and he started writhing around, squealing like a little kid.

 

“Oh my god you’re the actual worst! I hate you.”

 

“Had to wake you up somehow didn’t I. Couldn’t have you dribbling all over my shoulder all night.”

 

“Dribb- I was not dribbling!”

 

“Anyway, you’re home now.” Eric remembered they had company and softened his voice. “I had an amazing night tonight.”  
  
“I did too. We doing this again?”

 

“I’d love to.”

 

The two men smiled at each other. Eric wanted to kiss him so badly, but didn’t want to do it while they had people watching – wanted it to be private. He settled for pressing his lips against his temple and dusting his thumb over his cheek. He softly spoke into his ear, saying “I’ll text you, sort something out.” Then, Dele got out the car and Eric watched him walk off into his building. Before they could start driving again, Eric spoke up and said “Don’t tell anyone.” He paused before letting out a “Please.”

 

“Sir. If we keep this secret from your family, it could have severe consequences for us. We have families to provide for, we can’t risk losing our jobs.”

 

“Please, it won’t be for long, I’m just- I’m just not ready to tell them yet.”

 

The two men looked at each other, before the driver said “We’ll think about it.”

 

Eric supposed that was the best he was going to get from them, so settled for it, thanked them and manoeuvred himself into a more comfortable position so he could get a quick nap in during the drive back to his flat. He drifted off to sleep thinking about how soft Dele’s lips looked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this didn't go in the direction i originally planned but i hope you enjoyed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back, back again. uni came and fucked me in the ass but i'm finished now. also haven't had nay motivation to write recently but apparently that motivation is back.

Eric wakes up the following morning with a smile on his face. He feels like a movie character or a novel cliché, he didn’t realise it was actually possible to wake up with a smile. During his sleep, he had relived all the events from the night before. He lazed around for a few minutes more, scrolling through random apps on his phone, before getting up and going over to his kitchen to make some breakfast and a tea. Feeling in the mood to carry on this movie character cliché he felt he was living, he made himself a bowl of porridge topped with a selection of red berries, a meal no real people actually ate he was sure.

 

He was sipping on his tea, scrolling through his Instagram feed when he saw a text from Harry pop up at the top of his screen.

 

 **From Harry:** You around today?

 

 **To Harry:** Of course. Why?

 

 **From Harry:** Alright if I pop round at noon-ish?

 

 **To Harry:** Yeah sure. See you then.

 

Deciding he was bored of rotating through the same 3 apps, Eric washed up his breakfast dishes and headed back to his room to get washed and dressed before Harry showed up.

 

**

 

When Harry comes in, he has a bit of a grim look on his face.

 

“Oh god, what?” Eric groaned out as he took a look at him.

 

“What do you mean _what_ ”

 

“Your face, it’s all..” Eric pauses, and pulls a face “weird”

 

“Why thank you dear, how kind of you.”

 

“Not like that, you look uncomfortable.”

 

“Yeah, I am, sort of. Your sister sent me round to ‘have a word with you’ about your, and I quote ‘recent behaviour’.” Eric rolled his eyes and started to walk towards the lounge. He felt he would prefer to be seated during this conversation.

 

“Which one?” Eric groaned, having a feeling he already knew.

 

“Daisy.”

 

“Fuck sake man, can’t she just leave me alone?”

 

“Eric, she’s really worried about you. She knows you you’re not going to talk to them about what’s going on so she’s asked me to try and help.”

 

“There’s nothing going on!” Eric was started to panic. The way Harry was looking at him it was like he could see right through him, could see that he was lying.  Security had exposed him, he knew it. It was over, everyone knew. Eric’s thoughts started to spiral and he was barely even listening to what Harry was saying.

 

He was brought back to reality by Harry shouting “Eric!” at him.

 

“What?”

 

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Thinking about it, Eric realised he hadn’t heard _a single word_ Harry had said. He thought he was listening but his thoughts must have drowned out everything before he could process it.

 

“Sorry, no.”

 

“I said that one of the security team approached your sister expressing concerns. He said that you’re hanging around with people from bad places and refusing to allow security to give them checks. So I’ll ask again. What is going on?”

 

Eric couldn’t answer. He had no idea what he could say. His heart started beating heavier, couldn’t breathe. He could hear his blood swirling around his body, louder than any thoughts. _Is this what a panic attack feels like?_ He scrubbed his hands over his face and leaves his hands covering his eyes, trying to block out the real world so he can focus on getting his breathing under control.

 

While he has his face covered he hears Harry ask “Is it drugs? If its drugs then we can get that fixed, you just need to start being honest.” Now, Eric can feel tears starting to form in his eyes. He feels guilty because Harry cares so much and he can’t even be honest with him. _What a shit friend you are._ He can feel himself shaking his head, trying to tell Harry it wasn’t drugs but his voice wasn’t working, his brain too overwhelmed with panic to form coherent sentences.

 

“Can’t…. fix….. can’t…” Eric managed to gasp out.  He was trying to say ‘it’s not something that can be fixed’ but his panicked breathing prevented this. Harry reached over to his hunched form and started gently running his hand down Eric’s spine.

 

“Come on Eric breathe. Is this to do with the guy that was here the other day? Is he your dealer?”

 

When Eric managed to get his breathing back to normal, he took a final deep breath, wiped his eyes and sat up straight. “It’s nothing to do with drugs, he’s not a dealer.”

 

“But it’s to do with that guy?”

 

“Yeah. Dele.” Eric couldn’t look at Harry. God, he felt so small and young, averting his eyes from his best friend like he was a kid in trouble.

 

“Dele.”

 

“He -  we -   I - “ Eric took a shaky breath in. He was going to do it. When he found the words.

 

“Are you – are you two together?” Harry spoke with hesitation. He knew he was approaching a difficult subject. His head shot up and his eyes widened while he started back at Harry. Eric was not expecting him to guess that so soon – or at all. _Was it obvious?_

“Who told you? Was it Daisy? Fuck why can’t security keep anything to themselves?

 

“No one told me Eric. So I’m right?

“I- Yeah? No – Kinda?”

 

“Ok, kind of?”

 

“It’s nothing official, we’re just getting to know each other. It’s all new.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“I didn’t know how to. I was scared of what you would say. We’ve known each other for so long and I was scared of how you would react when you found out I’d been lying to you for so long.”

 

“God you’re the biggest idiot ever.” Harry reached over to give Eric a hug, holding him strong and tight around the back. “I love you okay?” Eric held on tighter to Harry, never feeling more loved than he did in this moment. “I love you.” Harry whispered into his hair while they embraced.

 

“Right, now we’re done being soft, I’m going to put the kettle on.”

 

When Eric was in the kitchen he put the kettle on and he pulled out his phone from his pocket to text Dele.

 

 **To Dele:** I just came out to my best friend.

 

He waiting a few short moments before his screen lit up with Dele’s response.

 

 **From Dele:** so proud of u!!!!!!!

 

 **From Dele:** are u ok???

 

 **From Dele:** do u need me to come round??

 

 **To Dele:** It went really well, I’m ok.

 

Once the kettle had boiled, Eric poured out two mugs of PG Tips and waited a couple minutes before adding a splash of milk to each cup and took them back to the living room.

 

“So when do I get to meet this ‘Dele’ then? I mean properly, the other day doesn’t count.”

 

“You want to meet him?”

 

“Of course. Need to give him the ‘don’t hurt my best friend’ speech don’t I?” Eric responded with a massive grin. He questioned why he ever doubted telling Harry. He was truly the best friend anyone could have.


End file.
